Opinion

At 130 years old, Nintendo provides the best cross-generational gaming

Recently I was in the park with Penny, my four-year-old daughter. Penny struck up a friendship with a ten-year-old and the two girls were chatting about their favourite games and activities.

Her new friend mentioned the classic video game Mario Kart, and said Yoshi was her favourite character. Penny replied that Peach was her favourite, because she looked like Elsa from Frozen. The girl’s grandmother joined in to the conversation; “I prefer Toad, he’s slower, but has better road handling…”

The Nintendo Switch is the system we turn to for family gaming.

Of course, she was right. Toad and Koopa Troopa are the best Mario Kart characters for this reason, but I was more amazed by the conversation itself. Few video games have had such a cultural impact that three generations could be discussing its characters, with everyone keeping up.

Mario Kart 8 is one of the few video games I’ve introduced to Penny, thanks to clever hardware and software. The Nintendo Switch edition features driver assist, which allows my daughter to race me and sometimes win, despite the fact I’ve been playing variations of the game for twenty-six years now. The Joy-Con controllers are small enough for her to hold, and we put one of the motion-sensitive devices into a simple wheel enclosure so she can steer without mastering the joystick. And of course Nintendo’s brand has always been family friendly, so there’s nothing to worry about in terms of adult themes or content.

Last week Nintendo re-released the first video game I truly loved; The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. I played the original back in 1993 on the monochromatic Game Boy, losing months of free time to the puzzles, hilarious characters and engaging if somewhat bizarre story.

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The Switch re-release updates the graphics for modern hardware, but keeps all the charm of the original. After a few hours playing the game myself, I cannot wait to introduce it to Penny. And unlike so many video game re-releases that feel like cynical money grabs, Link’s Awakening feels like it was made with love by people who, like me, grew up with the original and want to share it with their children.

This week Nintendo turned 130 years old, and although the Japanese giant's obviously been making video games for less than a third of that time, it still has more of a legacy than any of its competitors. There's a careful and patient toymaker-like mentality behind its products that set them apart.

Not only are Nintendo games old enough that people who played them growing up could almost be grandparents themselves now, but the company was first to consciously expand the appeal of its products to all ages and experience levels, and it remains the only one to consistently provide high quality experiences anyone can enjoy.

As a family we rarely find the time to play video games, and if I’m honest we have hundreds of dollars worth of unplayed games in our pile. But when we do find a moment, the Switch continues to be the console we turn to.